Mankato, Minn. --- The No. 13 Minnesota State soccer team defeated Augustana 1-0 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday afternoon at The Pitch.
The top-seeded Mavericks (18-3-1) won their third match of the season over the fourth-seeded Vikings after winning 2-1 in the regular season and 3-0 in the semifinals of the NSIC Tournament. Minnesota State advances to the sweet sixteen of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2015 season.
The first half went scoreless as the Mavericks led in shots by a 10-7 margin over the Vikings, including 6-1 in shots on net. Minnesota State broke through with the only goal of the match in the 58th minute. Sophomore
Brynn Desens sent a through ball up to sophomore
Jenny Vetter, then Vetter split two defenders and beat the goalkeeper to the low left corner. This was Vetter's 20th goal of the season, joining
Amber Dusosky (1999-2003) as the only two Mavericks to score 20 goals in a season in history. Vetter now has the third most goals in a season all-time at MSU and Desens' 13 assists in a season are tied for the second most all-time.
Senior
Alexa Rabune (16-2-1) earned her ninth sole shutout of the season, the 27th of her career, after making four saves in the win.
Minnesota State finished with a 28-15 shot advantage, including a 16-4 lead in shots on goal. The Mavericks also had nine corner kicks to the Vikings seven in the match.
As the top seed in the central region, the Mavericks will now host the third and fourth rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Dec. 6 and 8 will be the two dates where teams from the midwest and central regions will come and play. On Dec. 6 at 10:00 a.m., top-seeded Grand Valley State will play seventh-seeded University of Indianapolis out of the midwest region. The Mavericks will play second-seeded Central Missouri from the central region at 1:00 p.m. The winner of each match will play on Dec. 8 at 1:00 p.m., with a chance to go to the NCAA Tournament Final Four.
Head coach
Brian Bahl, Vetter and seniors
Bri Ciaccio,
Alesha Duccini and Rabune commented following the match.
